From: Cecil Bearden <crbear...@copper.net>
Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Underdeveloped twin, please help
To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info
Date: Sunday, March 1, 2009, 7:40 PM
Mark:
You jogged my memory. An enema is probably just what the
little one needs. From looking at the pictures that lamb
looks like it is fine, just small.
Also, I might add when bottle feeding if you will gently
massage the little one's belly and guts it helps the
motility of the guts. This is a necessity with dogs and
cats, and helps with ruminants. Not a lot, but contact and
rubbing really helps. Mama usually will sock on them a lot
to ge their guts working. I would not give up on it yet.
Just make sure not to let it aspirate any liquid or you will
be dealing with pneumonia.. I would add a little of the
guava juice, but being careful not to put too much sugars
into the back end and make the clostridium baacteria flare
up...
I have slept with my bottle babies on my chest just to give
them a live warm body to be close to.
Cecil in OKla
The Wintermutes wrote:
Hi Michael,
The lamb may be doomed but I have saved some in the
past like this. I
believe you are working on the wrong end of the lamb.
Take a syringe (no
needle) with warm water and insert it in the anus and
fill the lamb up until
water starts coming out when you pull the syringe out
(enema). After the
water has cleared out do it again. The lamb will
likely pass some very hard
feces that has him plugged up. Just keep doing the
warm water treatment
until you feel you are not getting any more results.
Remember you are
dealing with a baby so be easy with the syringe water
pressure! Once the
very hard feces is out you are back to trying/hoping
the lamb will eat. If
he starts eating well you will probably save him.
Good Luck,
Mark Wintermute
Had a ewe with one of her twins half the weight of the
other. At 2
weeks, he's 4.5lbs and she is 8lbs.
His name is Bam Bam. here he is on his birthday, you
can see the size
difference:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mwsmotorsports/February_LambS213091011AM#5302876
349358364882
Noticed after a few days, he was always listless,
hunched, not
frolicking, and I started to bottle-feed him some
pasteurized goat's
milk from the store, to supplement what he was getting
from his mom.
His mom would feed both sibs, but Bam Bam seemed never
to be getting
more energy. After supplementing her feeding, he
seemed to rally a
bit, At this point, it was time for us to separate the
lambs, since we
were planning to bottle-feed them from here on out,
anyway. He again
became more listless and no prancing around. He has
never been a
bottle-puncher and always acts like he is full. trying
to be patient
with him, you're lucky to get 1oz in in 10
minutes. The other 8-10 lb
lambs, of course, can kill 10oz in a feeding.
His temp was about 100.3 in the middle of the day.
Being new to sheep,
I took him in to the local livestock vet who is also a
sheep breeder.
He suggested tubing him, and taught me how, and we got
4oz in him the
first time. I was very encouraged. But, each time
thereafter, I'd get
a bit in, and then when adjusting the tube a bit, the
syringe/funnel
(no plunger in syringe) would fill back up with 20cc
of milk or so,
with a rancid smell.
In the mornings, even in an enclosure with a heat
lamp, his temp could
be as low as 95.5. Usually 97.5 or so. Two days of
trying to tube
always resulted in the rancid milk and in one case,
vomiting.
Took him in this morning and the doc tried to tube him
himself. Same
result, he said the reticulum was holding the milk
till it was going
bad, which is why he gets no nutrients. He credited
the smell with the
milk being spoiled and mixed with mucous. I thought it
was bile but he
said sheep don't have bile in their reticulum.
His diagnosis: the little ram is not fully passing the
milk on thru
his digestive tract. He has "some" feces and
urine, but not enough.
His prescription: Today has been sub-Q dextrose only
4x a day, and one
vit-B shot (1/2 cc) per day. Try to get any remaining
milk thru his
system.
Tomorrow will be: electrolytes via tube, and vit-B.
Towards the end of
the day, if I can mix in a bit of milk, to add to the
tube, I will
try.
The point is to try to get his temp up and get him
digesting.
My question: is he just mal-formed and doomed, or has
anyone seen a
case where he could be less developed than his sister
and be nursed
along until his digestive tract catches on?
Michael. Perino Ranch Blackbellies.
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